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McAfee update exterminates Excel

So if this applies to you, if you haven't already updated McAfee AV to def 4176, might want to asap.

McAfee update exterminates Excel

For a brief period on Friday, McAfee's security tools killed more than viruses.

An error in McAfee's virus definition file released Friday morning caused the company's consumer and enterprise antivirus products to flag Microsoft's Excel, as well as other applications on users' PCs, as a virus called W95/CTX, Joe Telafici, director of operations at McAfee's Avert labs, told CNET News.com.

"At about 1 p.m. PST we started getting reports that people were seeing an unusual number of W95/CTX infections in their environment," Telafici said. "Files that we did identify would probably be deleted or quarantined, depending on your settings."

...

McAfee has been able to pinpoint the cause of the problem and hopes it can avoid it in the future, Telafici said.

The problem occurred with virus definition file 4715, which was released at about 10:45 a.m. on Friday as part of McAfee's daily update cycle. The repaired, emergency-definition file 4716 was pushed out at about 3:30 p.m.

The graphic illustration is probably appropriate given the wide use of Excel and McAfee. I'd guess Uncle McAfee better get his checkbook ready. That's gonna cost him. I wonder how quiet MS will remain on the subject since someone jacked up their product?